Elephant Bar in Altamonte Springs, FL

I had dinner at the Elephant Bar Restaurant in the Altamonte Mall. I was here a few times in the past and have always enjoyed my food. This particular visit wasn't quite as good. I ordered the Bangkok Pad Thai with Vegetables. For an extra three dollars and change, I had shrimp added to the dish. The Pad Thai looked good when the food arrived, covered in bean sprouts and cilantro. Underneath though, except for a few snow peas, the noodles and other vegetables were overcooked almost to a mush. There were only four small shrimp mixed in, definitely not worth the upcharge.

I hope I just caught Elephant Bar on a bad day. I always liked their food in the past, so hopefully they aren't going downhill...

Salmon from Hibachi Express

I returned to Hibachi Express in Casselberry, FL for a second visit. This time I tried their Teriyaki Salmon. It consisted of pieces of salmon served over stir fried vegetables with steamed rice on the side. I had no complaints, but if I come back and eat here again, I think I will ask for them to leave out the mushrooms in the vegetables.

I took a look at Hibachi Express' website and found some of the stuff on the Welcome page kind of amusing. The place has the typical setup as a Chinese Takeout, so it seems very deceiving how the restaurant is described. I think anyone who calls up to make reservations at Hibachi Express without seeing the restaurant will be disappointed when they arrive.

Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables from China Wok III

I ate Shrimp with Chinese Vegetables and wonton soup from China Wok III in Sanford, FL. I'm not sure what differentiates between Chinese Vegetables and Vegetables (both were on the menu), but my shrimp were good! Bok chow, snow peas, carrots, water chess nuts, and mushrooms were all served with many huge shrimp, all topped with a white sauce. Steamed rice came on the side.


China Wok III is definitely one of the best take out Chinese Restaurants in the area!

Osaka in Lake Mary, FL

I ate at the Osaka Japanese Steakhouse in Lake Mary, FL. I had the Hibachi Chicken, which started out with some soup and salad. They ruin that soup in my opinion by putting all of those dried Chinese noodles in it.

The chef soon came out and cooked at the table, serving up mixed vegetables, fried rice, noodles, and the chicken. It was tasty, and it was much more reasonably priced compared to the nearby Kobe or Yokohama.

Patio Grill Pasta with Vegetables

I ate Pasta with Vegetables at Patio Grill in Longwood, FL. The dish consisted of angel hair pasta, topped with carrots, zucchini, onions, yellow squash, mushrooms, and some cheese. It also came with a piece of garlic bread. When I ordered, the menu didn't list the vegetables that came on the pasta, and I really would have preferred for the mushrooms to be left out (mushrooms aren't even vegetables, they're fungus).

More Ikea Pasta

I ate the same pasta from Ikea in Orlando once again. It seems I've been going there often lately to get their cheap food.

Speaking of Ikea, check out this new store in Brooklyn, NY. It's built on the site of an old shipyard. Instead of getting rid of the shipping stuff, they kept lots of it. They have huge shipping cranes in the store's parking lot!

Very cool!
Ikea in Brooklyn

Ethos Vegan Kitchen

I ate at Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Orlando, FL. I am not a vegan, but it's fun to venture into the non-meat, non-dairy, animal product free world of vegan food.

I ordered the Udon Asian Odyssey, which was supposed to be Udon noodles with assorted vegetables. If you look at the picture below, those definitely aren't Udon noodles on the plate. Udon noodles are thick, round noodles that somewhat remind me of fuzzy worms when cooked. What was served were wide, flat noodles that seemed more along the lines of chow fun. I wouldn't have had a problem with the chow fun noodles if I was told that is what I was ordering, but I was expecting some udon. I'm guessing either Ethos was out of the udon and made a substitution without informing the customer, or they are assuming that the average vegan doesn't know much about Japanese noodles. I really don't like it when I order one thing, and get something else.

I also found the noodles to be way too salty. I love salty foods, but the amount of salt in here was over the top. Besides from the type of noodle problem, the pasta seemed like it would have been really good if it wasn't for the salt. Instead, I had to eat some bread and drink lots of water to counter out the overpowering salty taste.

While I have my complaints, I did think Ethos was better than some of the few other vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Orlando that I've tried. They have a long way to go before they can compare to Angelica Kitchen though...

Ikea Orlando Pasta

I ate at the restaurant in Ikea once again. I ate the same thing that I ordered last time too. I had pasta with alfredo sauce, topped with steamed vegetables. This came with a side salad and garlic bread. It was pretty good for $3.99, but I sort of realized that their food has declined over the years since I first ate in an Ikea up on Long Island several years ago where I was amazed with their good cheap food. It seems like their food has become more American and less Swedish. They definitely didn't have chicken tenders back then...

Pasta from Ikea

On the way home from Universal, I stopped at Ikea to eat dinner. I had a vegetable pasta combo. It included a salad, pasta topped with vegetables and alfredo sauce, and garlic bread, all for $3.99. It tasted good too!

Speaking of Ikea food, check out this blog. They have a really interesting post about what Ikea stores serve in their restaurants around the world. France and Norway look like they serve some good food!